Let me start by saying this upfront - I’m a huge fan of real leather 😃. When it comes to everyday essentials like bags, wallets, belts, shoes, and jackets, I always go for the real deal. Sure, I like to find the best balance of style and value for money, but at the end of the day, it’s gotta be genuine leather. I mean, why settle for something that imitates the quality of real leather? It just doesn’t make sense to me. For example, why bother with a "faux leather jacket that looks as good as the real thing"? 😅. Eventually, faux leather always peels, cracks, or falls apart, while real leather ages beautifully and lasts longer with use.
That said, I get why faux leather is popular - it’s way more affordable. And with today’s tech, it’s hard to tell faux from real leather by sight alone. I’m not totally anti-faux leather, but knowing how to spot the difference between the two is kinda fun and useful 😉.
What Exactly Is Real Leather?
Real leather can come from various animals like cowhide, calfskin, buffalo, sheepskin, horsehide, deerskin, and pigskin. But no matter the source, all real leather is categorized into four main types, which you can visualize in a cross-section of a hide. Listed from best to least quality:
Full Grain
Top Grain
Genuine
Bonded (This isn’t always shown in diagrams, but we’ll get into it, don’t worry 😛)
Let’s break down each layer of leather a little more:
Full Grain
Full Grain is the top layer of the hide, kept in its natural state without any sanding or buffing. It’s the highest quality leather you can get. Only cows raised in clean, controlled environments have hides smooth enough to avoid major scars or imperfections. But even then, Full Grain leather will have some natural "flaws." The most common type today is Corrected Grain, which is Full Grain leather that’s been sanded and buffed to remove imperfections, followed by a surface treatment to make it look like natural grain.
Top Grain
A step down from Full Grain, Top Grain leather is made by sanding off part of the top layer. This gives the leather a smooth, even surface that’s then treated to create the desired texture or grain pattern.
Genuine
Despite the name, Genuine Leather is lower in quality. It’s made from the layers beneath the top, so it loses the most durable part of the hide. Manufacturers often add adhesives and surface coatings to make it look more like Top Grain or Full Grain leather. Fun fact - suede is also a type of Genuine Leather. When I first got into fashion, I thought suede was high-end leather 🤪.
Bonded (Reconstituted Leather)
Bonded leather is made from scraps and leftover bits of leather, mixed with adhesives and pressed into sheets, then coated with a polymer surface. It’s a mix of real leather and synthetic material but doesn’t hold a candle to the higher grades.
How to Distinguish Real Leather from Faux Leather
For the sake of clarity, let’s stop calling it "faux leather" and switch to "synthetic leather" 😌. Synthetic leather is fabric or plastic that’s been processed to mimic real leather. It goes by many names: faux leather, eco leather, vegan leather, leatherette, and more. But regardless of the label, here’s how to tell if it’s the real deal or synthetic:
Check the Label
It sounds simple, but it's the easiest place to start. Real leather products proudly say "100% real leather" (unless the label is deceptive 😢). Synthetic leather labels usually sneak in the word "leather," but refer to one of the types of synthetic leathers listed earlier. If in doubt, check a dictionary.
Examine the Edges
The edges of synthetic leather are smooth and polished, whereas real leather edges are rougher, with visible fibers.
Unfinished Raw Leather Edge vs. Burnished Finished Edge
Synthetic Leather Edge
Look at the Pores
Animal skin, like human skin, has pores. This is a key detail in telling real leather apart from synthetic. Manufacturers can fake pores on synthetic leather, but they’ll be uniform and often give the surface an unnaturally shiny look 😂. Real leather has more irregular pore patterns and natural imperfections like wrinkles or minor scratches.
Genuine Leather (Left) vs. Synthetic Leather (Right)
Feel the Texture
Real leather is soft and naturally elastic. Synthetic leather, on the other hand, tends to feel stiffer, more "plastic," and overly stretchy.
Genuine Leather (Left) vs. Synthetic Leather (Right)
Smell It
This method takes a bit of practice, but real leather and synthetic leather have distinct smells. Real leather has an earthy, natural scent, while synthetic leather has a chemical or plastic-like odor.
Inspect the Back
The back side of real leather is usually suede, which feels rough. Synthetic leather is often reinforced with a fabric or mesh backing, which makes it feel smoother. However, some real leather products also have a fabric backing for added luxury and durability, so don’t rely solely on this method.
The back of genuine leather is naturally uneven and rugged..
Burn Test (Be Careful!)
I’ve never actually tried this myself 😰, but real leather burns slowly and smells like burning hair. Synthetic leather, being petroleum-based, burns quickly and smells like plastic.
Water Test
Drop a bit of water on the surface. Real leather will absorb some of the water after a few seconds (unless it’s treated to be water-resistant), while synthetic leather repels the water like a lotus leaf does 😉
Genuine Leather (Left) vs. Synthetic Leather (Right)
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